The Reborn - Finishing What Was Started [M]

[Minkasha]

Yes G congrats! Please don’t mutilate your son’s genitals! Circumcisinon for no sex!

Also all of you do not continue to reply because I have a reply in mind...

[Azazeal849]

Yes G congrats! Please don’t mutilate your son’s genitals! Circumcision for no sex!

Huh. I didn't know that it was a common thing in Australia, but after a quick google, it apparently is!

Also all of you do not continue to reply because I have a reply in mind...

Copy that.

Also ooooooh. Cal's compelling voice even affects robots!

[Enigma]

Also ooooooh. Cal's compelling voice even affects robots!

It's kinda hard not to notice someone yelling "stop" - it could be Cat's compulsion affecting the Probe, or it could be a left over subroutine that requires Probe to pause when uttered. It's not a good thing to pause in the middle of an assassination, it really isn't.

---------- Edit ----------

And now it didn't happen that way.

Kinda curious to see what happens next?

[Azazeal849]

Schoolkids jump through time and screw things up? Sounds about right.

As for what happens next...well apart from having some explaining to do, and apart from Jeon and Gina would probably appreciate a wake-up call, this looks like the perfect opportunity to Inception our two targets - either while they’re still down or by waking them up one at a time and Voicing them.

“LISTEN TO ME. You don’t want to touch alcohol ever again. You don’t want to start a war with the Draconians. You want to send Adviser Avery to patch things up with the elf queen. Your life goal now is the wellbeing of the kingdom’s people.”

And for Kevin: “LISTEN TO ME. You want to support your king. And stop being such a dick.”

Might want to Voice O’doln as well, just in case he can somehow undo all of Cal’s magic. Use Melvin to keep him paralysed and spaced out to prevent him casting, if necessary.

[G]

Well shit. That was unexpected! Reply coming now, sorry for the delay! And don't worry Mink I quite agree, no uneccesary cosmetic surgery for my boy <3 It is really common here (though becoming less so) and the dumb thing is most people don't even have a reason beyond 'i want him to look like his dad' or 'it's easier to keep clean.' Like... teach your child to clean themselves properly, then?!!!

[Enigma]

Schoolkids jump through time and screw things up? Sounds about right.

As for what happens next...well apart from having some explaining to do, and apart from Jeon and Gina would probably appreciate a wake-up call, this looks like the perfect opportunity to Inception our two targets - either while they’re still down or by waking them up one at a time and Voicing them.

“LISTEN TO ME. You don’t want to touch alcohol ever again. You don’t want to start a war with the Draconians. You want to send Adviser Avery to patch things up with the elf queen. Your life goal now is the wellbeing of the kingdom’s people.”

And for Kevin: “LISTEN TO ME. You want to support your king. And stop being such a dick.”

Might want to Voice O’doln as well, just in case he can somehow undo all of Cal’s magic. Use Melvin to keep him paralysed and spaced out to prevent him casting, if necessary.

The Council wants the king dead - it's a straight-up power grab. Telling Kevin to obey will just get Kevin and Jeon killed, (obeying the king could mean revealing the conspiracy, and there would be reprisals) unless Melvin can reform his shell into a spaceship - and against magic, that may not be enough.

If, however, the king was to vanish - say, carried off by the invisible escaped prisoner (or Melvin) to some distant isolated island or some prison cell or mad house following some very quick plastic surgery (Melvin), there would be questions but there would also be a vacant position on the throne to fill.

And to be fair with Makoto, she got the temporary ability to leap through time as an accident. She does try to fix things.

[Azazeal849]

Gina, upon waking up:

The Council wants the king dead - it's a straight-up power grab.

True. But the fact they’re using Jeon as a poisoner shows that they don’t have the power / confidence to move against him more openly. I’m also banking on the fact that - judging by their words - most of the council are more interested in the stability of the realm than obtaining power for its own sake (which, to be fair, they already have plenty of). So if the king were to stop being such a wrecking ball...?

Hayden is angry and frustrated at the way things are going, but it takes Kevin to suggest the idea of murder to him, so he’s not inherently violent. He responds well to reasoned arguments from Jeon.

Charlie is harmless, and might actually be an asset if the commoners like him as much as he likes them.

Dutt just follows orders - he’s not a schemer. For keeping the kingdom stable this is a good thing.

The other councillors we don’t really see enough of to gauge.

Editha...is a worry to me. She’s sly like Kevin, and she doesn’t always think her plans through (start a civil war, anyone?). She can be kept in line by self-interest though. She knows plenty about the Dracs and the elves, which should make her the qualified ambassador she claims to be (even if she’s also got a pretty blatant motive to big herself up to save her own skin)...but Kevin also mentioned her making a faux pas at the last meeting (“refusing the wine, who does that?”). Unfortunately Gina hasn’t been told this information by Jeon yet, so she can’t quiz her on it.

Telling Kevin to obey will just get Kevin and Jeon killed, (obeying the king could mean revealing the conspiracy, and there would be reprisals)

That’s a good point, and I’ll admit one that I hadn’t thought of. That at least will have to be prevented, by Voice or by removing Kevin.

What to do about Kevin is an issue that’s been sticking with me for a while. He’s marked by the Note Writer just like the king is, and I’m wondering if the Uranus sign in this context means “change / eliminate” both of them rather than “choose between” (and I was assuming that it would be easier to create / work with one or two Voiced individuals than to Voice the whole council).

A lot of people seem scared of Kevin. He’s persuasive, but also sly and manipulative, and the poisonings were his idea to begin with. He openly abuses people below his station, which is terrible for PR. And from his exchanges with Charlie, he has a classist entitlement complex that means (moreso than the other councillors) he MIGHT seek power for its own sake, rather than the good of the realm. He doesn’t even seem to do that much work (all he talked to Jeon about was orgies and how much he disliked his fellow councillors)!. There’s other leaders available who can look strong and do the job, without pissing off the commoners and the foreign ambassadors.

So what do you think? Should we keep the king and Voice both of them, or get Melvin to disappear both the king and Kevin? And what shall we do with O’doln and Editha?

If this works, Gina can get all smug and relieved right up until Cal mentions the Drac army.

[Minkasha]

I’m glad you guys are all invested to solve this! However PLEASE wait. Azazeal849 I need you to disregard the message you just sent. It is my turn and I’m writing and plotting things, thus taking my time.

[Azazeal849]

Oh. Did Cal’s attempt to wake the others up again fail? Or are we due some other characters battering in within the next few seconds?

[Enigma]

Okay, Melvin has noted Cal's shaky condition and is offering a treat - Jelly Babies. It's a chewy candy that's like a soft jelly bean but twice as long, and was a favored treat of the Fourth Doctor.